Stonnington Council lawyer Matt Sherwell told the court if the properties were not cleaned up by January 2, the council would move in and bill the owners $3000.

Mr De Masi said he would have to live in his ute with his three dogs, which he said were like humans.

Mr De Masi escaped conviction after promising to be of good behaviour for 12 months.

Furious neighbours say they are at their wits end, describing the state of the junk, which includes car bonnets, scrap metal, discarded appliances, drums and old pieces of furniture, as ‘Australia’s worst front yard’. The mess even flows onto the nature strip.

Just a few doors down from the $1.4m property, a vacant block is littered with piles of junk from the same man, who also stores garbage in three vehicles on the street.

The court earlier heard Mr De Masi was taking the junk to a local scrap yard where he was getting $25 a tonne for it.

The mess includes car bonnets, scrap metal, discarded appliances, drums and old pieces of furniture.